Threats to its recovery remain, but overall San Diego’s economy is continuing to expand.

That’s what a panel of economists and business executives told about 400 people Friday at the University of San Diego at the 29th Annual San Diego County Economic Roundtable. The panelists touched on national and local economic progress, job growth, housing, military, and clean technology.

“San Diego’s economy is healing,” said Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Point Loma Nazarene University. “It’s not (healing) as rapidly as we’d expect but we shouldn’t be overly pessimistic.”

The roundtable was jointly put on by the County of San Diego, the San Diego Workforce Partnership, the University of San Diego School of Business Administration, and U-T San Diego.

Here are some of the highlights the speakers shared at the university’s Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice.

National economy

The federal government avoided sweeping automatic tax increases on most levels of income at the end of December, known as the fiscal cliff. But Reaser said there are three other fiscal cliffs that threaten the economy — the ongoing debt ceiling debate, $1.2 trillion of automatic spending cuts known as sequestration, and the fact that there is still no approved budget.

Larry Blumberg, executive director of the San Diego Military Advisory Council, said the economic questions make it very difficult for businesses to plan, especially those that contract with the government.

“The uncertainy is what’s driving everybody in the defense business crazy,” he said. “We need a budget, we need appropriations ... you can make decisions as long as you have numbers to deal with.”

Renewable energy

Holly Smithson, president and chief operating officer of the nonprofit CleanTECH San Diego, said San Diego has more than 200 solar companies and the highest solar photovoltaic adoption rates in the state. She said the wind patterns and other natural resources make San Diego a destination for companies that want to develop alternative energies. She said many are hiring engineers, and that the average salary for an installer for one local company is between $55,000 and $65,000.

Jobs

San Diego County employers added about 20,000 jobs in 2012. Alan Gin, an economist at USD, said he expected an additional 25,000 in 2013, which should bring the county’s jobless rate down to a seasonally adjusted 8.1 percent.

One reason the recovery has been slow is that the jobs being added aren’t high paying. Gin said administrative, waste services, tourism and retail jobs accounted for much of the growth over the last year.

Marney Cox, economist at the San Diego Association of Governments, said federal programs to assist those hurt in the economic downturn were overly expanded, to the point where it makes more sense to stay on them than to search for a low-paying job.

“The first thing government always does is they deficit spend — the idea is to build a bridge over the top of the recession. While the economy is doing poorly, all of our programs are in place and that leads us to spend more money than we are collecting,” Cox said. “Unfortunately this recession has lasted a long time and been a lot deeper than anticipated.”

Housing

The Federal Reserve will continue to hold interest rates low as a way to incentivize people to enter the housing market. Buyers should expect to see more multifamily units than single-family homes being built, said Russell Valone II, president and CEO of Marketpointe Realty Advisors. New development permits for apartment buildings and condos outweigh those for single family homes by 100,000 in the county, he said.

“The housing recovery is here, but it depends on continued consumer confidence to be fully realized,” he said. “Prices are rising, making it possible for more people to get their heads above water.”

Home sales still have a way to go from a peak in 2005, when 15,492 homes were sold. Last year, San Diegans bought 2,794 homes, Valone said.

He said rents have also gone up in the county, with the latest average being $1,377 a month.